News That Never Grows Old

Opening

Good morning church! If you have your Bible with you this morning, I invite you to open with me to John 3.

If you don’t have a Bible with you, we have some pew Bibles in front of you that you are welcome to use. You can find this passage today on page ___.

Popularity of John 3:16

Today, I want us to look at a passage that I believe many, if not all of us are familiar with. If you grew up in church or not, there is a great chance that you have heard this verse. It has often been referred to as the Most Popular Bible Verse. The Gospel, the good news, in 24 words.

John 3:16

It is the most searched Bible verse on google, with over two million searches globally each month.

The hashtag #John316 has appeared in over 250,000 Instagram posts

On TikTok, it has been viewed close to 56 million times.

Tim Tebow wore John 3:16 on the eye black under his eyes before the national championship game. This gained worldwide attention, resulting in 94 million people googling John 3:16 during that game.

If you go to In-N-Out Burger, you’ll find John 3:16 printed on the soda cups.

As we can see, this verse is nothing short of popular. However:

Have you ever heard something so many times that it becomes dull to you?

It reminds me of being on an airplane. Before takeoff, the flight attendants go through the safety protocol in case of an emergency. They cover how to properly use the oxygen masks, where the life vests are located, the expectations of those sitting in the exit rows, and more. You hear it so many times, or you assume you know what it’s saying, that you completely tune it out or ignore it altogether. Yet, that information is important to know, and it could be the difference between life and death.

I fear that this happens to us, especially with a verse like this. We have heard it so often, we can recite it, we have seen it all over culture, and yet, we can become numb to it, thinking that the good news is simply old news.

My desire today is that we would see this text with fresh eyes: that we wouldn’t simply write it off because we’ve heard it countless times, but that the Lord would reveal the beauty of the Gospel to us and open our eyes to our need for Him.

Before we go any further, let’s pray and ask God to help us as we open His Word.

(pray)

Body

Context

Now, before we read this passage, I want us to briefly cover the context of what is taking place. Far too often we can find ourselves reading verses in isolation and miss the big picture of what is taking place.

In the beginning of John 3, Jesus is visited in the night by Nicodemus, a man who was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Now, Pharisees were the smartest of them all; they knew every little nook and cranny of God’s Law, and they often thought of themselves as superior to those around them. However, Jesus spent a lot of time calling out and rebuking the Pharisees for their hypocritical behavior and for the ways they would burden others with their own rules and regulations.

Nicodemus recognized that there was something different about Jesus, that He wasn’t just an average teacher, but one that had come from God. Jesus responds to Nicodemus by telling him that no one will see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Nicodemus, being puzzled by this, asks Jesus if this meant someone must enter into their mother’s womb a second time and be born. Nicodemus, although the teacher of Israel, seems to miss the point.

Everything that Nicodemus would have depended on to be right with God - his jewish heritage, knowing the law, doing what is right - was flipped upside down when Jesus told him that he must be born again.

Jesus closes His conversation with Nicodemus by telling him that:

John 3:13–15 (ESV)

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Text

Here is where today’s text comes into play. Verse 16 is tied to verse 15, and it tells us what took place so that we can have eternal life.

John 3:16–21 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Main Point

If you’re taking notes this morning, I want to give you the main point of today’s text right up front:

Jesus saves sinners from darkness when they believe in Him.

I pray that you would see this truth straight from the text. With this main point, I want us to see three things from the passage:

The Good News (v. 16-18a)

The Bad News (v. 18b-19)

Two Responses (v. 20-21)

The Good News (v. 16-18a)

John 3:16–18a (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

18a Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

The Good News is Truly Good

The good news is truly good. There’s no catch to it.

This is the good news of the Gospel friends. That God so loved the world, not just the Israelites, but those from all nations, the world, that He gave. This would have perplexed Nicodemus as well, given that he was a Jewish man. Gentiles, those who were not Jewish, were not viewed the same as the Israelites, God’s chosen people.

But, our God did not simply say He loves the World, He acted upon that love and showed it through the giving of His Son.

The good news is that if we believe in Jesus Christ, we will not perish, meaning we will not permanently be separated from God, but will have eternal life with Him.

We may die a physical death here on this earth if Christ does not return before our death, but we will never perish apart from our Lord because He has conquered death once and for all.

We get to spend eternity, a timeline our minds cannot even imagine, with our Lord and with our fellow brothers and sisters who have believed in Jesus.

The good news continues, with John telling us that God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn us or to shame us, but to save us.

How often do you feel condemned? By those around you? By the things you’ve done in your past? By your own self?

Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned. What an encouraging message this is! If we believe in Christ, we will never face condemnation from Him. He has face it on our behalf.

This news, the Good News, should make us glad!

“Evangelion (what we call "the gospel") is a Greek word, signifying good, merry, glad and joyful news, that makes a man's heart glad and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.” - William Tyndale (best known for translating the Bible into English)

Does the gospel make you glad? Is it joyful news for you? Does it make your heart glad and make it sing? Does it make you want to dance and leap for joy?

Or has it become background noise? Have we become normalized to the message; have we become indifferent?

The Good News is not just for unbelievers

One reason I believe we become indifferent to the gospel message is that we mistakenly think the good news is only for those who don’t know Jesus yet. A message that we share with the lost, a message only for them.

The good news, however, is for believers too. We need this good news ourselves, Christians. In fact, we need it every day of our lives.

We fail to see the importance of the good news in our everyday lives:

If the Gospel doesn’t exist, we wouldn’t be here right now. You wouldn’t be sitting here. I wouldn’t be up here teaching. Who knows where we would be or what we would be doing.

If the Gospel doesn’t exist, we have no hope. There are no Christians, and we are simply left in our sinful lifeless state.

And if the Gospel is not at the center of why we gather as believers, then our gathering is pointless.

(pause)

This good news is more than something we verbally say share with others or with ourselves. The good news, the Gospel, is the foundation, the core, of our faith.

Martin Luther, the great reformer, once said: “We need to hear the Gospel every day, because we forget it every day.”

That quote couldn’t be more true.

How quick we are to forget the good news and go back to depending on our own works, our own “good behavior”, thinking we can earn salvation.

How can we avoid forgetting the good news? By being aware of the bad news.

The Bad News (v. 18b-19)

John 3:18b-19 (ESV)

18b but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

A State of Condemnation

The Good News is good, and there is nothing bad about it. However, the good news is only good when seen in contrast to the bad news. The bad news is what makes the good news so good.

Jesus says that whoever does not believe in Himself, the Christ, is at this moment in a state of condemnation. Why?

Because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

But what about those who follow other religions and are sincere? Surely they can’t be under condemnation, right?

I mean, all religions ultimately lead to the same God right?

And come on, what about them? They’re such a great person. They are one of the kindest people I know; they would do anything for others.

Unfortunately, this is not good enough. If we are taking God’s Word at face value: it is those who have not believed in the name of the only Son of God that are under condemnation.

This could include:

Ignorant disbelief - not believing due to not knowing the truth

Which, should produce the urgency in us to share the Gospel!

Willful disbelief - knowing the truth, yet choosing not to believe it

Lovers of the Darkness

Christ the light has come into the world, and yet instead of loving Him, we have loved the darkness and our evil works.

Please note that John does not say that we simply like our sin, but that we love our sin. How do we know this? By our evil works.

We enjoy being the master of our own lives. We enjoy calling the shots.

We enjoy indulging ourselves in whatever pleasures we want to indulge in, whether that be alcohol, drugs, pornography, you name it.

The Bible has a definition for our state of being, and it is not “someone who has made a few mistakes”. No, church, the definition given is: sinner. We sin because we are sinners.

We are born this way. It is the unfortunate reality for every human being in existence (other than Christ). The first man ever created, and our human representative, Adam, failed and sinned, therefore casting the entire human race into the curse of sin.

I’ve often heard some people say that if they were in the garden, that they wouldn’t have eaten the fruit and we wouldn’t be in this mess called sin.

The truth is: we are making that statement in a fallen, broken world after the fall. Adam existed before sin entered the world. Hindsight is always 20/20. None of us would have been superior to Adam and Eve in the garden scene.

Because of this sinful state we are in, we deserve death. Romans 6:23 says it this way:

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The payment, the cost of our sin is death. Sinners deserve death.

Left to our own devices, we as sinners are under condemnation. And this condemnation has eternal consequences. Permanent, eternal separation from God in a real place called hell. That is what it means to perish. This is the bad news.

(pause)

Two Responses (v. 20-21)

John 3:20-21 (ESV)

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

As we continue on in our text, notice there are two responses to the light, being Christ, coming into the world:

Hate the Light

Notice how it’s those who do wicked things that hate the light. The light is seen as a bad thing, as it exposes and reveals what is inside: darkness, wickedness, and evil.

Sinners love their sin. It’s comfortable. It’s what they want.

When Jesus calls sinners out of their sin, it can be offensive!

How dare He tell me how to live my life?!

I want to party!

I want to sleep with whoever!

I want to do what I want to do! I don’t care if I neglect my family in doing so!

The light exposes the darkness.

Therefore, those who continue in darkness show that they hate the light. They want to continue down the path that leads to destruction.

Come to the Light

But, Jesus tells us that whoever does what is true comes to the light.

Those who recognize the weight of their sinful acts and come to the light will be saved.

This is a promise; a guarantee.

When we come to the light, our life and works point to the light Himself.

God makes His children more like Him over time. We do not become perfect over night. But, by God’s grace, He performs a work in us that will not leave us the way we were before He saved us.

In Christ, there is no darkness at all. He is beauty; He is light; He is perfection. And when we come to Him, the light, He makes us more like Him.

Conclusion

What is your response to the light?

Do you love the light? Do you love Christ and what He has done for you? Do you desire to obey His Words and live for Him as He makes you more like Him?

Or, do you love the darkness? Do you love your sin more?

Come to the light!

Here is the Gospel message that is for all of us:

Jesus Christ, the perfect son of God, came to this earth and lived the life you and I couldn’t live, then died the death you and I deserved, paying the penalty for our sins. And guess what church? Jesus did not stay dead. Three days later, He rose again from the grave, confirming that the payment made was perfect, and demonstrating that He has defeated death once and for all!

After appearing on the earth for over 40 days to over 500 people, He then returned to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. He promises to come back one day for those who believe in Him, where they will join Him in eternal paradise.

Believer

Believer, have you forgotten the precious truth of this message? Are you living your every day with this message at the front of your mind? Every day you wake up, if you are in Christ, you are free! The punishment for your sin has been paid! Never will you ever have to pay the punishment for your sin because Christ has done that for you.

When you sin, you repent, get back up, and continue following Him. You are not under condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus. This is the good news! This is the Gospel! This is why we are here. This is why we preach this message. Preach this message to yourself every day!

Church: Christ is calling us to believe in Him in such a way that our life reflects it; that the belief we have in Jesus would be evident by the life change that has taken place.

Is your belief in Jesus shallow? To the point where you tell others you believe in Him, yet your life does not reflect that in any way whatsoever?

This should be a caution sign that we haven’t grasped the good news.

If we have grasped the good news, then there is no possible way that we can be a follower of Christ and not experience life change.

Unbeliever

For the unbeliever in the room: come to the light!

Are you tired of living for yourself?

Are you tired of trying to find fulfillment in the pleasures of the world, only to find yourself empty every single time?

Are you tired of trying to do this life on your own? Are you tired of feeling the weight of life’s burdens on your shoulders?

Run to Him! Flee from your sin to Him! Come to the light while there is time! Tomorrow is not guaranteed. In fact, the rest of your today is not guaranteed.

Sin promises a lot, but never ever delivers. It always has consequences, and they are deadly.

You do not have to die in your sins and live in eternal separation from God. He has done all that needs to be done for you to be forever changed and forever His. What must you do? Come to the light! Repent from your sins and turn to Christ! He is the light that has come to save you.

Closing

If you need to repent of your sins, do that! Turn to Jesus.

If you need prayer, we have some people down front who will pray with you.

If you need to talk with someone about what it means to come to the light, or maybe you just have questions about Jesus in general, we will also have some pastors in the VIP room following the service who would love to talk with you as well.

Jesus saves sinners from darkness when they turn to Him.